This southern movement of the centre of dispersion of the ice is diametrically opposite to what occurred in the case of the ice-cap of Labrador, where the striæ along the east side of Hudson bay show that the centre of ice-movement changed from a position near the central area of the peninsula, a short distance north of the southern watershed, to one some three hundred miles north, in the vicinity of the headwaters of the Koaksoak river.
The glaciation of Labrador seems to have been later than that of the western side of Hudson bay, as the striæ from the western glacier are almost obliterated by those from the east and northeast along the rivers south of James bay.
There is a marked difference in the evidence of the intensity of glacial action between the southern regions and the eastern and northern portions of the great area embraced in this report. On the shores and islands of Hudson bay and Hudson strait the crystalline rocks have been denuded of every trace of rotted surface material; they have been smoothed, polished and intensely striated, and their present condition is such that little or no change has taken place since the disappearance of the ice, which once covered them deeply, the striæ being so fresh as to appear of the formation of yesterday. When the eastern mouth of Hudson strait is left, a change is soon seen in following the eastern side of Baffin island northward. The hills are less rounded, and talus lies on the slopes of the cliffs; about Cumberland gulf and Cyrus Field bay there is evidence of a universal ice-cap having been present, but the rounding, polishing and striation of the rocks are markedly less than to the south and westward. In these places it is exceedingly difficult to find striæ upon the rock surfaces, and these when found show that the movement was local and from the highlands towards the open sea. In the northern part of Baffin island the hills become more serrated in outline, and many of the higher points appear to have never been subjected to glaciation, the glaciers having only filled the valleys; if an ice-cap existed the ice-movement to the coast was determined by the course of the local valleys, and there is no evidence of a movement not depending upon local conditions as is the case in the region about Hudson bay. At Erik harbour, on the south side of the mouth of Ponds inlet, there is evidence that the glacier which now terminates at the head of the harbour once extended five miles farther seaward, and filled the valley to a height of 400 feet above the present level of the sea. Above that height the rocky walls of the harbour are not glaciated, and are covered by slopes of disintegrated rock. Passing north of Lancaster sound to the south of North Devon, there is little evidence to show that the glaciation was ever much more severe than at present. At Cuming creek, a narrow fiord cut some twelve miles into the limestone cliffs, there is evidence that a glacier once covered its bottom, and rose some two or three hundred feet above the present level of the sea; but it was purely local, and the limestone cliffs everywhere show that they have been long subjected to subaerial denudation, and that the broken rock covering their sides has never been displaced by ice.
Very little time was given to the study of glaciation at Cape Sabine, and the only evidence to show that it was more intense formerly was a low moraine in the rear of Peary’s house at Payer harbour. Schei, who devoted considerable attention to the glaciation of Ellesmere, is of the opinion that the ice covering never greatly exceeded its present limits, if it did so at all.
MARINE TERRACES.
Marine terraces are found along the coasts of the northern mainland and islands wherever the conditions are suitable. Fronting the highlands about Wager inlet and Repulse bay, on the western side of Hudson bay, terraces are found cut into the drift deposits up to elevations varying from 500 to 700 feet. The highest terrace seen by Dr. Bell on the north side of Hudson strait had an elevation of 528 feet above the present sea-level. At Cape Wolstenholme, on the south side of the western entrance to Hudson strait the terraces rise to 800 feet above the sea. At Douglas harbour on the same side and near the middle of the strait the highest terraces noted were little over 400 feet. Along the eastern shores of Baffin island terraces were constantly seen, which were estimated to rise from 500 to 700 feet above the sea. Schei found terraces with Post-Pliocene fossils at an elevation of 650 feet along the shores of Ellesmere.
The foregoing evidence shows that at the close of the period of maximum glaciation an uplift occurred to the land throughout the northeastern Arctic region. This uplift is marked by the terraces existing on all the shores, but they fail to agree with the theory that the uplift was greatest where the accumulation of ice was greatest. There appears to be no great difference in the height of the terraces in Ellesmere, where the glaciation, never excessive, remains in nearly the same state as when it was at its maximum thickness and of those about the shores of Hudson bay, where an enormous thickness of ice once covered the land and has now entirely disappeared.
The uplift, which took place in comparatively recent times, geologically speaking, does not appear to be going on at present, as all the historical evidence relating to the Hudson bay region points to a remarkable stability in the coastal regions from the time of the first records dating back to the voyage of Munck in 1619.
The present glacial conditions of the Arctic islands has been noted in another part of this report, and it need only be here stated that the lands fronting upon Hudson bay and Hudson strait are now free from glaciers, the nearest approach being the occurrence of detached snow banks in protected positions, which remain throughout the year. The most southern glacier is the Grinnell glacier situated on the north side of the high land separating Hudson strait from Frobisher bay, and plainly seen crowning the summit of the north shore of Hudson strait for a distance of more than fifty miles. This glacier is not very active, and is said to discharge only a few small icebergs into one of the fiords on the south side of Frobisher bay. Passing northward along the eastern coast of Baffin island, the snow patches upon the hills become larger and more numerous, but it is not until Cumberland gulf is passed that real glaciers appear in the valleys leading down to the sea. These are not very active, and seldom shed icebergs except on the northern part of the island. Active glaciers are found along the southern side of North Devon westward to the neighbourhood of Cuming creek, west of which the ice-cap retreats, and the shores and cliffs are free of ice. The valleys of the eastern and southeastern coasts of Ellesmere are filled with active glaciers that discharge many large icebergs. In the southwestern part the glaciers are not very active, and usually terminate at a considerable distance from the sea.